Harpies
Character Analysis

More monsters of classical mythology, these foul creature have the bodies of birds (with fearsome talons) but the heads of women. They dwell in the forest of the suicides in the seventh circle of hell, where they feed upon the leaves of the trees that the souls of suicides have grown into.

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Harpies Character Timeline in Inferno

The timeline below shows where the character Harpies appears in Inferno. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Canto 13

...dark forest filled with old, gnarled trees and devoid of any greenery. Here are the harpies, horrible part-woman part-bird monsters of Greek mythology. The harpies roost in the trees and release...
(full context)

...the forest, sprouts "like a corn of wheat," (13.99) and grows into a tree. The harpies then feed on the trees' leaves, which causes the trees great pain.
(full context)